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Affinities (CivBE)
Civilization: Beyond Earth introduces a brand new and exciting feature - Affinities. In a highly technological future on an alien planet, humanity is presented with the question 'How do we continue our development? Should we continue to develop our technologies to aid our natural bodies? Or should we start changing our bodies to adapt to new challenges? The answers to these questions are synthesized in Affinities - overarching philosophies on human advancement that shape your entire colony's development throughout the game. What are Affinities? Although at first glance Affinities can be likened to Ideologies in Civilization V: Brave New World (for example, other colonies react diplomatically to differing Affinities the way they reacted to differing Ideologies in Civ5), their purpose and effects are in fact very different, as is the way in which you develop them. While the Ideologies were mostly a product of the social development of a civilization, Affinities are a product of a certain way of technological advancement and gameplay choices, and are thus not chosen, but developed. Most game systems are affected by your affinity levels: buildings, units, satellites, covert operations, etc. Even some strategic resources are the preferred resource to some affinity. This means that Affinities will not only bring you a set of bonuses, but they will literally shape your entire colony, its development and even your strategies! How do you develop Affinities? There are two main ways to develop affinities: * Researching certain technologies. Many leaf technologies are associated with a given affinity; when you research them, you devote your colony to the tech's respective affinity. Note that Affinity progress is measured in affinity points, which scale up as you advance in an Affinity - in other words, advancing from level 1 to level 2 of an affinity takes fewer points than advancing from level 13 to level 14. Thus, technologies researched at different stages of the game will have different effects on your affinity progress. An advanced technology researched early may give your colony two affinity levels, while a basic technology researched late in the game may not give you enough points for even a single level. (although the research order affects your overall progress - different technologies cost different number of points!). * Choosing a certain affinity-aligned goal during a Quest. There are many quests in the game, and some of them will offer you a choice which will affect your affinity progress. Expeditions also render Affinity points sometimes, especially when they're done in Progenitor Ruins. With sufficient affinity points, players graduate to the next level of the given affinity, unlocking benefits. Note that there is no limit in how you advance Affinities - you can choose to concentrate on a single Affinity, or you may want to develop all three of them, it's up to you. However, the Affinity in which you have the most levels (starting at level 4) will always be considered the 'Dominant' one, and other players will react to it. The AI players tend to choose an affinity that's not chosen by their neighboring civilizations, but it is also clear that specific sponsors have no predetermined affinity preference. Affinity benefits The advancement in Affinity levels brings your colony many benefits: * Affinity special bonus. These are fixed bonuses which activate when you reach certain levels in an Affinity. The last bonus is always related to an Affinity victory condition, such as the ability to build the Mind Flower or Exodus Gate. * Military unit upgrades. Each level in your primary Affinity will allow you to upgrade a unit type from your army. Starting from level 6, units get affinity-unique looks and features which further deepen the story of the game and customization of your colony. * Buildings accessible. Many buildings in the game can only be built if you reach a minimum level in a certain Affinity. * Units accessible. As with buildings, there are affinity-special units, only accessible over a certain level in a certain affinity. Affinity victories Finally, progressing enough in each Affinity (past level 13) opens the path to Victory. The Harmony affinity allows you to achieve a Transcendence victory, the Purity affinity - a Promised Land victory, and the Supremacy - an Emancipation victory. Note that achieving the minimum level in the selected Affinity doesn't automatically grant you the victory - there are some more things to be done afterwards. Also note that there are possible Victory types (the Contact and Domination victories) which don't require progression in any specific Affinity. Go for these victories if you don't feel particularly strong for any of the affinities, and want to keep a broad approach to developing your colony. Harmony bonuses (Rising Tide) Purity bonuses (Rising Tide) Supremacy bonuses (Rising Tide) Hybrid Affinities With the arrival of the Rising Tide expansion pack, it is now possible to blend two affinities together to gain access to an entirely new set of units which contain a few of the basic strengths of both factions as well as some new traits of their own. Rising Tide has no hybrid victory conditions, however, Hybrid unit upgrades will always require lower affinity levels than pure tier three upgrades. Harmony-Purity Obsessed with purity of form beyond even the most extreme Purity purists, Harmonal Purists use extremely complex genetic technology in order to not merely improve upon man, but to accelerate his evolution into something stronger, more intelligent, and far more capable than his current existence. Harmonal Purist units usually appear very anthropomorphic and "godlike" and are painted in gilded coloring across their entire bodies save for the tell-tale Purist stripe of red. Harmony-Purity bonuses Purity-Supremacy Simply put, Puritanical Supremacists are dedicated to the complete and total separation of man from machine and the perfection of both to the highest degree, constructing enormous robotic war machines with A.I.s of animal-level intelligence piloted by men clad in advanced (but not powered) armor. Their unit colors are usually pure white with bluish lighting effects. Purity-Supremacy bonuses Supremacy-Harmony Willing to sacrifice everything in order to ensure the survival of humankind, Harmonal Supremacists replace so much of their bodies with cybernetic grafts and vat-grown alien tissue that it is almost impossible to tell where the flesh ends, the machine begins, and if the unit was human at all to begin with. Their unit colors are metallic purple with dark indigo lighting and most of their land-based mechanical units resemble the alien species of the planet. Supremacy-Harmony bonuses Notes Victory condition not mentioned in Civilopedia in Rising Tide Category:Game concepts (CivBE)